The vote on whether to move garbage pickup from back alleys to the front of homes has been delayed. But the controversy surrounding the matter is not subsiding.
Council was initially expected to vote on a request from the City's garbage contractor, Regens Disposal, to allow the switch on a one-year trial basis at the Sept. 6 meeting. However, council did not receive the proposal from Regens until late last week, necessitating the delay.
The controversial topic was thrust back into the spotlight at the Aug. 22 meeting of council when Regens owner Gene Baniulus appeared before council to ask for permission to move garbage pickup in the majority of the city to the front curb.
Baniulus said back alley pickup is becoming increasingly difficult for his drivers and is also causing significant damage to his equipment.
"There are trees hanging over, restricting access for us. Low wires in certain areas, fences too tight to the alleys to barely get down them. It results in excessive maintenance on vehicles," Baniulus said at the meeting.
If council were to grant his request, Baniulus said it would lead to roughly $18,000 in savings for his company, money he would turn back to the City so it could go towards a curbside recycling program.
"(The savings would come) mainly on maintenance on equipment, maintenance on carts fences that happen to get damaged. Our insurance is always being questioned when a wire gets pulled down because it's in trees and we don't see it and it happens to get hooked," he said.
If the debate that followed the request was any indication, there is a level of trepidation among council. This is not surprising given the level of rancor when the initial switch from hand pickup to automated pickup was made.
Mayor Gary St. Onge said City Hall has received a number of calls and opinions on the matter but noted the City will not host a public meeting.
"Several people are asking if we are going to have a meeting and we said 'we had a consultation meeting May 18 and there were 22 people there.' We discussed recycling and garbage and all that stuff," said St. Onge. "We're tired of having consultation meetings. Why should we have another one?"
St. Onge said the majority of people who have voiced their opinions to the City are still in favour of back alley pickup. He pointed to a recent poll of residents in the northeast corner of the City where the vote was 70 to 50 in favour of maintaining the status quo.
Asked for his own opinion on the matter, St. Onge said front curb pickup would likely work very well in Estevan.
"I think a good portion of the city we could easily go front and do it quite well. It seems to work everywhere else," he said. "They do it in Weyburn full-time, Carlyle all the little places around here they do it. But there are so many people here against it and they all say they don't have any room for their cart in the front and then you drive by their place and there is all kinds of room. But they just don't want to put it in the front. There is so many people in Estevan that it is so important that they have it in the back."
Although the current consensus is for back alley pickup, St. Onge said the time for curbside pickup is coming. Not only are more people shifting their opinion, he said it is possible that when the current contract is up in 2013, it is unlikely any of the companies bidding on the contract will include provisions for back alley collection.
Sticking with the topic of contracts, St. Onge answered complaints that a contract is a contract and Regens should not be trying to change terms mid-stream. He said it's impossible for anyone to see all potential issues until they actually get into things.
"We have the same thing when we have watermain replacement. They give us a bid and they get in there and find they are 10 feet deeper than they thought they were or they run into some problems.
"I don't think (Regens) realized how tough it was going down some of the back alleys. So I can see them coming back. It doesn't necessarily mean that we'll do that."
St. Onge added council will also consider the possibility of moving to front curb pickup over the winter, likely from Nov. 1 to May 1.
"We'll look at all those aspects."
Whatever happens with the vote, St. Onge said he continues to be surprised at the level of animosity in the public regarding garbage pickup.
"It seems to be almost the biggest issue ever. You can raise taxes, you can do this, you can do that and you don't hear near as much as when you talk about moving garbage to the front and there seems to be a lot of animosity towards the contractor too. I'm thinking in 2013 it will be quite a decision when the new contract comes along. I won't be there, I'll be watching with interest."
